Winter in the Karoo

Winter has officially arrived – well as far as we here in the Karoo are concerned. 
Definitely soup, comfort food and fires weather. 

And although it is very difficult getting up early in the morning, once up, it is nice to be dressed warmly with a freezing cold nose and pink cheeks for a change.  In a month or two we will be sick and tired of the weather, but for now we are enjoying the change in seasons.  Of course, knowing that the next season is Spring makes it worthwhile having to endure the cold.

I enjoy the late afternoon scenes and sunsets, but once the sun has dipped behind the mountains, the cold descends very quickly. Nights are so clear and crisp in winter and Kate has enjoyed being able to take stunning photos.  She finds the centre pivots especially interesting as seen below.

Well, we can all be pleased that we don’t have to do the job which our current guests are doing.  They are professional divers.........in the Karoo???  Yes, they are working on the refurbishment of Grassridge Dam which is not far from us.  And although they have spent many weeks on and off with us, we hadn’t been to see them on the job until Friday.  We certainly have a new and profound respect for them!  It is quite an operation and a lot of equipment is necessary.  But I am in awe of them diving into freezing water, staying under for up to an hour at a time and doing work that most of us would consider dangerous on dry land.... drilling, breaking up huge rocks etc etc.........and all by feeling their way as the water is muddy brown and visibility nil. The weather has been particularly cold – Friday brought sun, wind, rain and sleet and Saturday was icy cold with wind coming off the distant snowy mountains!  Monday was minus 3 degrees and bakkies battled to get going in the early morning - before sunrise when their day starts! So, imagine going off to work knowing what awaits.  Brave and tough men each and every one of them and so nice as well. 

We really enjoy having them here with us and providing all their meals which are much appreciated.  On Sunday they had a melt-in-the-mouth tender Karoo lamb roast and veggies with Chocolate Cake for pudding / afternoon tea.  And supper was beef and vegetable soup, homemade bread and Macaroni Cheese. I have decided to share my recipe which I always use for the Macaroni Cheese which our family enjoys and any leftovers freeze well for a quick and easy light meal.

Quick and Easy Macaroni Cheese

1 cup    Macaroni (dry)

2 cups  Milk

2           Eggs

1 cup    Cheese - grated

1 Tbs    Butter

1           Tomato - sliced thinly

2 tsp     Maizena

2 tsp     Dry mustard

Salt and pepper

A dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Boil macaroni in salt water until tender and drain
Put cheese in a bowl and reserve some to sprinkle on top
Add mustard, maizena, salt, pepper and cayenne to cheese
Add eggs one at a time and mix well
Boil milk, butter and macaroni together
Add to the mixture in the bowl
Pour into a buttered dish, sprinkle cheese over the top
Decorate with tomato slices
Bake at 180 deg for 30 +- minutes until browned and set
Serves six

Until next time, stay warm and cosy!

Regards,
Anne

Lambs Galore!

‘It’s raining lambs, Hallelujah’  – or so it would seem!  There are dozens of the most darling little things playing and cavorting all over.  The weather has been sunny and hot and the feeling of spring in the air is exciting and makes me feel productive and looking forward to a bounty of flowers, fruit and vegetables.  The lambs seem to be conscious of the change in the weather as well and in the early mornings and late afternoons can be seen playing together just like children – they chase each other and jump with unbounded joy.  Quite the most heart-warming sight to behold!  Once the sun starts to set, there is an almighty cacophony of mothers calling and lambs answering so they can all be found and settled down for the night close together for feeding, warmth and safety.  Nature is incredible!!  Just this morning I went for a walk and took photos of a sight I found fascinating. It was around midday and really hot and there were at least a dozen lambs in the shade being looked after by a two mothers while their mommies had time off to graze quietly on their own.  When a mother came back to fetch her lamb and offer a milk snack, the mother first smelt her baby’s bottom and once she was sure it was hers, the lamb was allowed to feed.  If a lamb tries to feed off one of the aunties, she shrugs it off and walks away – no free milk/lunches anywhere it appears!

And the birds are equally aware of the glorious weather.  As I sit here with the door wide open to let in the sun and fresh air, the only sound I can hear are birds of all shapes and sizes chirping and calling.  There is a palpable excitement in the air with much nest making and frisky behaviour going on around here. A dove is making a nest in the walnut tree right near the stoep, so we will watch their progress with interest. Doves are cooing and courting, cocks crowing and strutting around importantly, fish eagles soaring high with their distinctive calls and of course the raucous hadedas shouting louder than all the others.  They are either happy to see me and greet me every time I am in the garden or they are warning their friends and family that the ugly old woman is hanging around again, so beware, she’s going to shout at us again and scare the children.  I confess that there have been times when I have told them in my loudest and hopefully most threatening voice to SHUT UP!! 

And now on to the Pecan Pie I have spoken of previously.  I have been asked – actually begged to give it to everyone who has tasted it.  So here it is.  It has an indecent amount of butter (and I confess that I only use butter but margarine can also be used) in it, but every now and then it is such a joy to eat something so decadent and mouth-watering that, oh what the hell, just do it!  I usually serve it with lightly whipped cream.  Ice cream can also be served with it for pudding but I personally find it way too rich.

PECAN PIE

Pastry

300 gr        Flour

3 level tsp   Caster sugar

210 gr        Butter (or marg)

 

·       Rub well together (I do it in the food processor)

·       Keep 1/3 aside

·       Line a tart dish, sides as well

Filling

1 tin          Condensed milk

2 Tbsp       Syrup

1-2 Tbsp    Vanilla (Tbsp not tsp!)

100 gr       Pecan nuts (or walnuts)

125 gr       Butter (or marg)

·       Melt topping ingredients in a pot – DO NOT BOIL

·       Allow to cool slightly and add nuts

·       Pour over pastry in dish

·       Crumble remaining pastry over the filling

·       Bake at 180 deg for +- 35 minutes until brownish

When we have guests and I serve this for pudding I usually put the remains out at breakfast the next morning and there are always a few who can’t resist a small piece with their coffee.  Utterly indulgent!

Regards,

Anne

Clever clucks!

Our darling chickens - bantams and the other hens - are proving to be both a joy and extremely invasive! On one hand, they provide us with endless entertainment and on the other they have a fascination with the inside of the house and will sneak in at any unguarded moment.  No matter how we have chased and shooed, they still give it a go and although we at first thought it was rather sweet, it has become quite an irritation.

Observing their behaviour has been really interesting as we had never thought about poultry having brains but birds do have brains, pea-brained as they may be! The roosters (cocks sounds downright rude in polite society!) are so very good to their women and humans could take note.  The male will find a tiny morsel and make a particular clucking noise which gets the females running to him.  He then puts it down for one to eat and immediately presumes she will be willing to pay in kind.  He prances around her doing a sideways dance with his feathers splayed out beautifully and then pounces.  To us humans it is most comical.

Currently we have a little black hen sitting on eggs in a large basket of potpourri in the dining room  As you can see from the photos, the menfolk find the right spot and try it out for size.  Then they encourage their ladies to test it and once one has shown her approval, she will begin to lay her eggs - usually one a day.  Once she has enough, she will start to sit continuously, getting off once a day to eat, do her ablutions and stretch her legs. Such good and devoted little mothers they are!

We have decided to allow this hen to stay inside to give the chickens a chance to hatch because if they are outside, their eggs are stolen by a grey mongoose who has dined royally these past few months and we have had two bantams and a large hen taken in the night by some predator - possibly a wild cat of some sort.  So they need to be closed in their 'hoks' at night to keep them safe.  In fact it is almost time to go and see to them now.  They will be given some stale bread which they absolutely love and follow me like I am the pied piper and before they know it, they are safely put to bed.

Regards,
Anne

Harvest Time!

We have had a busy week with guests - all such super people.  I love meeting so many people who all have stories to tell and are so interested in the farm and our history here in the Karoo.  I took them up to Grassridge Dam and we were lucky to see Rhino close up next to the road.  They are on a lion farm close to the dam.  We went on drives around the farm to see the new lands and centre pivots being installed.  But more of that next time.

Recently the mielies were harvested and it was quite exciting to see the combine harvester in action.  The three children from next door had a wonderful time sitting in the cab with the driver, in fact they spent three hours in there which is quite something for two boys of 8 and 6 and a girl aged 4 years old. 

The golden mielies which have been removed from the cobs by the harvester are transferred into large metal bins on a trailer and taken to the silo for storage.  We climbed into the silo a few months ago when it was fairly empty and lay on the mielies with the children.  We felt like Scrooge McDuck who apparently enjoys swimming in his money vault!  It was great fun until one of the children got a mielie in his ear and it was time to go home.  He wasn’t  amused when I said I wondered if he would wake up in the morning with a mielie plant sticking out of his ear!  But his dad was able to remove it without too much drama so next time we will have to wear beanies to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

The dried cobs are just wonderful for heating up the fire for a last blast of heat before heading off to bed on a cold winters night.

Bouts of freezing weather have left brilliant displays of winter wonderland scenes.  If sprinklers are left on at night, the ice and icicles are begging to be photographed the next morning.  Flowers are encased in ice and recover completely once the ice has melted. Some plants are remarkably resilient and tough even though they look so delicate!

The first daffodil has opened , so Spring is finally on the way!  Pruning of fruit trees and roses is under way and the vegetable garden is busy being prepared and planted.  Can’t wait for everything to start growing and offering forth its bounty.  One of lifes many pleasures!

Regards,
Anne

Congratulations, ewe are pregnant!

A new farm experience for me was seeing how much time and effort is put into the care of sheep.  They need correct feeding programmes, mating sessions, health checks etc.
I was fascinated to see how the ewes were scanned for pregnancy.  Who would have thought that sheep would go throught the same process as humans do to check their babies!  It is important to see who is pregnant and with how many - mostly one or twins but there were some who were carrying triplets (poor things!).  Those which were not pregnant were put back with rams and checked at a later stage.
The process does not appear to cause distress as they are literally in the chair for a few seconds and when they are released from the chair they look back and seem to be thinking "What the hell just happened there?"

We are expecting the first lambs to be born from 21st August onwards.  Can't wait to see these precious babies frolicking in the early mornings and at sunset.  They congregate like a bunch of children in the playground while their mothers wait for them to tire out so they can have a good sleep afterwards.  The similarity between humans and animals is so fascinating!

Ruaan, Kate's fiance, recently found this little darling in the veld with no other sheep in sight and it was already becoming dark on a freezing winter night.  It had the umbilical cord still attached so he knew it was a very new lamb which would have died had it not been found, so he had to take it home where we could feed it and give it a chance.  We had guests staying at the time and their little girls were fascinated - they christened it "Snowy".  My daughter Kate became it's mother and the little thing became her shadow over the next few days.  It is thriving and a joy to us all.

 Best regards,
Anne

Welcome to our blog!

Having fairly recently moved back to the wonderful Karoo where I grew up, it seemed unfair to keep this to myself.  So here goes with regular updates on what happens on a farm which supplies that great South African delicacy Karoo Lamb and beef.  Also grown on the farm are pecan nuts and walnuts plus maize and lucerne.

My husband Dave and I run two guest houses catering for anyone looking for a real Karoo Farmstay. There are various activities available or guests can chill, sitting on the stoep drinking coffee or having an afternoon nap under the trees.

Our daughter and her fiance have moved to the area and she is now helping us with our marketing plus she is a great chef in the making so we are being spoilt and kept on our toes with new ideas.

We have had a very cold snap and it is wonderful to wake up in the morning to a winter wonderland of frost and ice.  Spring is the most beautiful time of the year with roses, blossoms and new leaves bursting forth, not to mention newborn lambs frolicking in the lands.  Summer brings hot weather which is just perfect for river activities such as canoeing and river rafting as the Great Fish River runs through the farm.  Autumn is a relief after the hot summer with stunning colourful leaves falling.

 Please check back often for regular updates of whats new and happening on the farm and in the community. We'll be sharing recipes, events, gardening & because there's never a dull moment on a farm there will be many incidents to report on!

Till next time,
Anne
http://www.lowlandscountryhouse.co.za/